YouTube Spoiler Stream 3

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Name YouTube Spoiler Stream 3
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Date Dec. 16, 2021
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#2 Copy

Reinhartmax1

What happens if a Radiant is ready to swear an Ideal above the one they can't swear (i.e. a Windrunner who can swear the Fourth Ideal but not the Third)?

Brandon Sanderson

They would have to wait until they can swear the Third.

#3 Copy

Fakjbf

When Sazed ascended into Harmony, he recreated many extinct plants and animals based on the fragments of knowledge he learned about from various religions. Many ancient and medieval texts in the real world had pictures of animals with wildly inaccurate features and proportions. Were the texts that Sazed drew on fairly accurate, or are there herds of monstrosities roaming Scadrial now like on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Fortunately, Sazed was able to work with something that you wouldn't be able to here. Which is—remember that Realmatic Theory is based on the theory of the forms by Plato. This is where I got it. I've been very open with that idea, that the first glimmers of that occurred when I was taking my philosophy classes in college. I liked the idea of there being this perfect version of something somewhere in another realm. Now, the thing I've done in the Cosmere is that that perfect thing can change and be shaped over time, but the remnants of those things were still there. He could latch onto something, something that knew what these things were supposed to look like, because he had this deific power.

So the answer is no, there are not versions of very very weird lions as drawn in illuminated manuscripts. I love where your brain went on this one. We were actually talking about, I can't remember the name of it, the wolf that they thought was killing all the people in France in the seventeen or eighteen hundreds, that they had these drawings of this monstrous wolf—where it was probably just a pack of wolves that were particularly hungry because their normal food source was being impacted by human expansion or something. But for a period of like five to ten years, perhaps hundreds of people got killed by this wolf, and all the depictions of it are these giant werewolfy sort of scary things.

I love seeing the pictures of all of those things, the pictures of giraffes on illuminated manuscripts that have just been described thirdhand to someone. Your brain is going cool places. You can make monstrosities like that with Hemalurgy, but fortunately Sazed did not run into that problem. 

#4 Copy

Amber Burningham

What Ajah would Jasnah be in?

Brandon Sanderson

I think she would be pulled toward Brown. The personalities of the Browns don't often fit her, so I bet she'd end up in Blue. It could be Blue—it could be Brown though. I could see Jasnah ending up in Brown. I mean, she's a historian. That's her "occupation" so to speak, but she's a historian who is trying very hard to save the world from something that she sees coming that most people don't anticipate, and that's a very Blue thing, this "I am one woman against the world" sort of thing. 

#6 Copy

ncmagic97

In The Way of Kings, when Shallan first goes to Shadesmar, she says something grabbed her ankle and was pulling her into the ocean of spheres. Was Testament the one doing said grabbing?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! I wondered if people were ever gonna pick up on that one, I haven't been asked that yet.

#7 Copy

evi_kholin

Evi was shown to have very strong moral convictions in Dalinar's Oathbringer flashbacks, do you think she could have become a Knight Radiant alongside the majority of the Kholin family had she lived long enough? If so, which Order would she fit best?

Brandon Sanderson

I think that she would've definitely had a good shot at that. Where would Evi go? Like a lot of people usually there's... most people I know who took the test and talked to them there's often two or three they bounce between. I could definitely see Evi as an Edgedancer in the way that she liked to pay attention to people that sometimes weren't being paid attention to, but I don't think that's where she would land. I don't think that's the strongest one. I would probably put her in Truthwatcher myself, but I would perhaps prefer to sit and think on it. This is one of those things that when I actually sat down to build the outline I'd have to really dig into it, but those are my gut reactions right there. Not a Bondsmith, not a Windrunner, neither of those fit Evi really well, but there you go, there's two she could've been.

#9 Copy

stargeak

In Mistborn 5, Shadows of Self, Wax chases Bleeder into the mist after the party where she was speaking in his mind to taunt him. As Wax jumps into the mist to follow, he has an internal monologue thinking about Vin. He says he can see her vaguely within the mist.

"Slight of frame, short hair splayed out as she moved, mistcloak fluttering behind her. It was a fancy, wasn't it?"

Has the mist become a self aware Splinter of Harmony similar to how the Stormfather operated with Honor? Also, since the mist "tuned" Vin to be able to take the Shard of Preservation, does the mist remember Vin in some form? And is it still connected to her similar to how a Returned is connected to their former self?

Brandon Sanderson

You're making some excellent theories here; I'm not sure if I want to stamp any of them out. I like where you're going on this. I will say that this is related to where, if you read in Words of Radiance, you will see odd things sometimes happen with Investiture. There is a scene (that I don't think a lot of people pick up on) where Syl is responding to Connection threads being built and is looking different than she should look and things like this. We're looking more at the Spiritual Realm and Spirit Webs and Connections and things like that. Not to stamp out any of your theories, but also to kind of direct you—often times when I'm writing pure Investiture or beings of Investiture, they respond to echoes in the Spiritual Realm. And like I said, you'll see this in Syl sometimes.

I'll leave it there. Continue theorizing but go that direction.

#11 Copy

TheBurningDusk

Mistborn era 3 is chronologically after the back half of Stormlight, but will be written first. With the ever-increasing cosmere connections, how will you keep era 3 from spoiling Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson

It's a challenge. I mean, technically era 2 is post-Stormlight 5, so I have been juggling that so far, it's not long after Stormlight 5 but it is post-Stormlight 5. Karen has to, when I force her to lock down certain parts of the timeline various places but there's certain things we haven't locked down, for instance, I still haven't decided how long the time jumps are going to be until I write the various series. Let's just say, I've managed to write Sixth of the Dusk I hope without spoiling too much, and it's not the only future era Cosmere thing that is perhaps coming through the pipeline eventually, before we get through with Stormlight 5, so I will just juggle this and balance this very well, I hope. I will try. I will do my best to keep this all balanced without spoiling too much. 

#12 Copy

Adam Horne

Can you please explain what RAFO means?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, yes! For those you don't know, I inherited from Robert Jordan a phrase that he used with fans when they asked a question that he didn't want to answer. It means read and find out. He would not answer for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes it's too much a spoiler. Sometimes he... Well, I'll just answer for myself, since I am not Robert Jordan. Sometimes I don't want to answer because it's too much a spoiler. That's probably the number one reason, is I am planning perhaps—not a promise but perhaps—to address this in the books. Sometimes I don't answer because I don't want to canonize this yet. Sometimes I don't answer because I like the fandom theorizing along a direction because it acts as a nice red herring for what I'm actually planning to do. I will do all of these things, and sometimes it will just be I don't feel like answering that right now.

When I picked up the Wheel of Time and I went to Harriet and Robert Jordans' house for the first time in December of 2007⁠, she handed me some things. One was of course the big pile of the ending of the Wheel of Time. This is what Robert Jordan had written plus all of his notes for the last book—which was about 200 pages worth of material. Then she also gave me a couple of things. One was one of his pens, which I signed most books on when I was on tour for those books was the pen that she had given me, obviously with ink cartridges that we refilled frequently, but one of his pens—his favorite kind of pen. Then she also handed me a little charm bracelet that said RAFO that a fan had given to Robert Jordan, and she said, "This is yours now," kind of bequeathing the RAFO to me.

Which is kind of funny, that it was bequeathed to me as a physical object, almost. Basically, the ability to be in control of how much information was displayed and basically this was her saying, "The fandom—it's your job now kid to deal with this." I still have the RAFO charm bracelet, my bequeathed RAFO. I started using it judiciously when fans would ask questions and it just started to become a thing that I did with my own fandom as well because it's a very useful tool.

So there you are. I'll have to put that in a shrine and bequeath it to someone else before I pass away and be like, "THE RAFO IS YOURS NOW!"

#13 Copy

Anton Nielsen

Could you create a proto-human using Awakening, steak, and Hemalurgy?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, yes. That would work. I mean, you could go for the full triumvirate and have Soulcasting in there too. You don't need need a steak you need... Go with Soulcasting. Soulcasting—get some Awakening, staple on a soul. This is actually—of the weird things that the fans come up with, this is one of the most reasonable that could be pulled off. You could do that with minimal knowledge of all three magics, I should say. 

Sucette

Is it a better proto human if the steak is well done or medium rare?

Brandon Sanderson

I think the more rare the better, but I think Soulcasting is the way to go.

#14 Copy

SomeAnonymous

How was spren society impacted by Nale (legally) murdering wannabe proto-Radiants in the years before the Everstorm? Were they aware of what he was doing?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, most spren thought that anyone who was trying to bond a human was--let's just say most of them responded as the other inkspren did to Ivory during his desires or Syl during her desires, and so if your foolish spren cousin goes to try to bond humans, they get what is coming to them is how most of them would probably regard it. It's not gonna be too bad for the spren, they're not going to be "killed" by what Nale was doing to the people. It's much worse for the people in that instance. But still, not a fun experience for a spren.

#17 Copy

No_Doughnut8618

Do you have a plan for Whimsy's planet already, like with a developed magic system and maybe a story to go along with it? Or is it kind of a wild card?

Brandon Sanderson

I have plans, but that doesn't prevent wild cards. Let's just say I have plans, that doesn't prevent me from changing it as things develop. The only two planets that I'm unlikely to change are Yolen and the Aether planet at this point. Those most likely need to remain canonized for reasons that they are being worked into the narratives. Everything else can be flexible.

And you assume that there's one planet for Whimsy, and that it is a planet, don't make assumptions.

No_Doughnut8618

If you've got a plan can we get any little detail about any of it?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah; making assumptions.

#18 Copy

graciemoo

Which Invested Art does Khriss find the most interesting to study? (or is it one we haven't seen yet)

Brandon Sanderson

I think Khriss is really fascinated by aspects of all of them, but lately she's been most into the weirdness of Allomancy, for instance things like how speed bubbles work and how weight manipulation works and how that interacts with mass, and the weird, weird, weird science of all of that that drives the arcanists mad.

#19 Copy

Leo H

Is Brandon publishing his book on writing in English or is it a Spanish only kind of thing?

Brandon Sanderson

So right now⁠—Oh, I didn't know this was out. What's happened here is (since rumors are apparently flying, or maybe it's been talked⁠ about), the Spanish publisher came to me and said, "Hey, it's hard for a lot of the Spanish fans to watch your lectures because they're in English," and was wondering can we transcribe these, translate them to Spanish, and actually turn them into prose rather than just monologue, and see if we can turn them into a writing book⁠. And I gave my blessing to this project. We'll see how it goes and see if my lectures turned into prose form actually work. I'm going to want to probably have them do it into English and then translate it into Spanish so I can see how the prose of the lectures works, but that is what's happening. I am not sitting down and writing a writing manual, not yet. I don't know if I ever will. It is a cool idea that the Spanish publisher came up with. I like that they came up with this idea and I hope that it turns out to be something really cool.

#20 Copy

LewsTherinTelescope

When Venli attempts to swear her Ideal and it gets denied, she hears "a femalen voice, so very far away—but thrumming with the pure rhythm of Roshar". Is the fact that it says "the pure rhythm of Roshar" instead of "a pure rhythm of Roshar" significant?

Brandon Sanderson

Ah, no.

LewsTherinTelescope

Was that rhythm set to the tone/tones of the Shard or Shards, and if so, which?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. I want you to be theorizing on that one LewsTherin.

#21 Copy

asmodeus

If the only variable we change, during the creation of Nightblood, is to use a different Allomantically-viable metal (say, iron or bronze instead of steel), but keep everything else constant (the same Breaths, same people doing the same visualization, and whatever other factors were involved), would it have manifested different powers/capabilities?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. Most likely.

#22 Copy

CODA_451

If you could have a Lego set from your books, what would it be?

Adam Horne

I know what I would pick.

Brandon Sanderson

What would you pick?

Adam Horne

A chasmfiend, for sure. A really detailed Lego Technic chasmfiend would be awesome. 

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, okay, you might have persuaded me. Mine went to the person who did all the cool Lego on Facebook. I just like the whole dioramas that they made, like, "here's this scene," and I thought those were very cool. Chasmfiend's a good choice. I would be curious to see how they would do Lego Shardplate though. How do you fit a little minifig in a Shardplate? I guess they have the, y'know...

Adam Horne

Paint?

Brandon Sanderson

No, it can't just be paint! It's got to be more like how they did the Hulkbuster Armor or something like that.

#25 Copy

EAgamezz

What did The Lord Ruler do all day? He was totally bored right? What would he have done to get his hands on some Cadmium?

Brandon Sanderson

He was bored, but he was also—he was not mentally all completely... sane? I guess? That's a wrong way to say it. He was having trouble simply continuing to exist because of pressures and forces upon him in a cosmere sort of way. Much as the same sort of thing is happening to the Heralds and has happened to the Fused. He was not, let's say, in a stable sort of immortality like Hoid has found. Or I should say, his is unlike what Hoid has found. 

#27 Copy

EogelAorist

Denth and Shashara, and Arsteel and Yesteel, are referred to and refer to themselves as siblings, despite being Returned. Does that mean they have knowledge of who they were while alive, and Vasher is the only Scholar who doesn't?

Brandon Sanderson

Oooh, what a wonderful question. What a wonderful question! Guess what! RAFO. You are supposed to be noticing and asking that. You're supposed to be asking some of these questions about them and about the scholars and about poor Vasher and how this all plays together.

#28 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

Let's just hope I can write Nightblood someday. I need to be up to date on things. Because that's a six month write right there, easily. I have been spoiled by doing three month books for a while on [Mistborn] Era 2 and on the Skyward books. I alternate those and eighteen month books like Stormlight. [Mistborn] Era 3 are all going to be six month writes probably because I'm going to shoot from 200,000-250,000 on those. And that's what Nightblood would be when and if I can get around to it.

#29 Copy

LewsTherinTelescope

You have said AonDor comes from something analogous to a Nahel bond. What is an Elantrian specifically bonded to? The Cognitive aspect of Arelon? The Dor overall? Etc.

Brandon Sanderson

It's not exactly that, but that's the right way to be thinking.

LewsTherinTelescope

How accurate would it be to say that Allomancy is granted by a Nahel bond to Preservation?

Brandon Sanderson

Different kind of bond⁠. Different mechanics.

#30 Copy

EvilAdolin

If you take a gemstone from Roshar to Taldain, would it be charged with Autonomy's Light on Dayside?

Brandon Sanderson

It could capture it; I'm not sure if it would happen automatically. You could definitely get some Dor. I don't know that it's gonna naturally pick up Autonomous Light; it might though. That one's iffy for me, I'll have to think about it.

I'm gonna say yes to that one, but it's not going to infuse very deeply. You're gonna get something in it, but it's going to vanish soon after, to the point that gemstones—they would have noticed on Taldain if gemstones just naturally picked this up. So, you're going to get just a little, little bit of a charge, but it's going to be almost imperceptible to someone without the right instruments. 

#31 Copy

cosmere1313

Would you do a Black Library book for Warhammer 40k, fantasy, or Age of Sigmar?

Brandon Sanderson

So here's the thing, I think Warhammer's worldbuilding is pretty awesome, but I have not been steeped enough in its lore to feel in any way, shape, or form capable of writing in that world. My experience with it is the occasional game and only one campaign of Warhammer fantasy RPG. And the fact that my friends are all huge Warhammer geeks. Dan and Allen. Dan Wells you guys know, and Leyten from Bridge Four both are very big into Warhammer, and so I do think Black Library—I'm very impressed with Black Library, but I don't feel capable of doing justice. Right now I would say no just for those reasons. Magic [the Gathering] is this weird thing where it is my nerd obsession of choice. It's the thing I pay attention to and can track, and it is very hard for me to have very many of those. I just had my fanfic that I needed to write, and I bullied Wizards into letting me do so.

#32 Copy

Muhammad Malkani

Can we see your cameo in Wheel of Time?

Brandon Sanderson

I did not ask for a cameo in the Wheel of Time. I might be willing to do it in future seasons, but this plays down to that—I know some of you say that I am too much this way, but it felt like that was taking that step over the line into taking too much of Robert Jordan's role. I love the Wheel of Time. I am very proud of my time in the Wheel of Time. I feel an ownership to the Wheel of Time, but having an ownership does not make me the owner. The Wheel of Time is Robert Jordan's, and if it were all about "Where's Brandon's cameo?" I just feel like that would in some way detract from it being Robert Jordan's, the culmination of 30 years of Robert Jordan's work to bring this to people, and I don't want to do that. I told them that I would be interested in cameos maybe in later seasons, but I did not want to do one in season one. I don't want too much attention on me for season one. The attention should be on Robert Jordan.

#33 Copy

SnooPeanuts464

Now that Kaladin has Radiant Shardplate, could he trap others, particularly other Surgebinders in the Plate and neutralize their powers like the end of Iron Man 3?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, but with a "I don't think this works the way you think it works."

#34 Copy

Kingsdaughter613

Primary question: Peter recently said something about atium in Era 1 actually being an atium-electrum alloy, which is called nalatium. Is this accurate?

Brandon Sanderson

This is accurate, yes.

You could, by the way, just continue to call it atium. That's what they think atium is in-world. It's very slightly tainted.

Kingsdaughter613

Secondary questions: If the above is yes, did Kelsier get malatium by separating the atium and gold from the silver in nalatium? If so, do atium and gold have similar melting points?

Brandon Sanderson

That's more of a RAFO in that I'm not sure I want to canonize any of that right now. 

Footnote: Peter's comment did not give the alloy a name, Adam misread a sentence where the questioner mentioned their own nickname for it.
#atium #rafo-plus
#36 Copy

kbrink21

With so many worldhoppers, how is it that knowledge of the Cosmere is so uncommon? Are worldhoppers sworn to secrecy about this?

Brandon Sanderson

Not most of them. 

Adam Horne

But not uncommon maybe?

Brandon Sanderson

No, I mean the Seventeenth Shard's not supposed to intervene, so there are some that are not supposed to. The majority of them, no. But at the same time, yes, the Horneaters know about them because that's where the perpendicularity is. How many people travel to the Horneater Peaks?

And yes, in most large cities on Roshar you will find a handful of worldhoppers. But what are you going to say? "Yeah, I'm from another planet!" and they're like, "What's a planet?" Yes, Jasnah and people, scholars would be able to be like, "Wow, this in mind-blowing!" Other people are like, "Oh, is that over the mountains? I've never been over there."

It's not this thing that is going to spread as much until—I think until there's mass communication and there is mass literacy and understanding. To place yourself in the context, you can say, "I'm from the stars," and they'll be like, "Yeah, so are we! We came from the Tranquilline Halls! You see all these Iriali over there? They came from another land as well." To them it's mystical. They don't put together this in the same way that I think that... I think that if you went back in time to medieval era and you said, "I'm from beyond the stars!" they'd be like, "Okay. That's as weird as being from over there on the spice route. I've never been to the next village, I can't conceptualize being from the stars". They'll either just think you're weird or that won't be as mindblowing as it would be to people once they have education and mass communication.

Which is why I think things during Era Two of Mistborn—that at that point things are spreading, people are understanding. It's starting to be a thing, and to them it is kind of mind-blowing. But to your average person in Bavland, they'd be like, "Okay. Sounds good. Where's my food?"

Patchwork Human

Who would believe you?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Who would believe you, who who understands what you're saying would believe you, and who else would have the context to understand? I just don't think that it's as big a thing as you think and also I think that in the era before mass communication, the numbers of people that are worldhoppers, even if they are in the hundreds or even thousands, is so small compared to the size of a planet like Roshar in populations that it just is not going to spread in the way that you think it will.

#37 Copy

CovaDax1

You've hinted before that Hoid is in reality much more self-interested than he is perceived to be and walks a path you yourself said you probably wouldn't condone.

Yet at times we see him share touching personal moments with multiple characters. Such as during Shallans childhood, or helping Kaladin through several rough patches.

Are these also to serve his own interests or goals, or are these genuine moments he's shared with them?

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid is legitimately empathetic to the individual. This is how he is. He is very empathetic to people's problems. But in the grand scale, he is more self-interested than I think people are seeing and fandom him being. These things aren't mutually exclusive. He can be very empathetic to the problems Shallan is going through while at the same time understanding that if Roshar were destroyed but Odium were contained, then it meets his goals better than if other things were to happen. And in a moment of decision, like if he were said, "Alright, you can sacrifice Roshar⁠—Odium is contained forever," he would probably say yes. Meaning all these people that he's empathizing with would be dead. (And that's what I'm saying right there when I say sacrifice Roshar.) Not that that is what would happen necessarily. I'm not saying that, but y'know, given that kind of impossible false dichotomy, that's one of the places where his mind and heart is. Depending on your axis and things like this, he has, like many of us, a complex morality. But those are legitimate moments of empathy on his part where he is trying to make their lives better. But it doesn't mean that every motivation he has is purely altruistic or purely aligned with what the people on Roshar would want.

#38 Copy

ncmagic97

Dragons are often depicted as much more intelligent and/or powerful than humans. Are dragons in the Cosmere better equipped to handle the power or psychological influence of becoming the Vessel for a Shard of Adonalsium?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say that... RAFO. That's not where I thought you were going to go with that, so I was planning to answer a different question. The one that you asked I will say RAFO to. 

Adam Horne

Do you want to tell the chat what question you thought they were going to ask?

Brandon Sanderson

They are better suited toward long lifespans, which makes them... But I would not say that a dragon in the Cosmere is born more wise than a human.

#40 Copy

Raddatatta

If Thaidakar / Kelsier could get access to one non Scadrian power / set of abilities, regardless of how difficult that would be to obtain, what would he be most interested in?

Brandon Sanderson

That's a pretty big RAFO. I mean, Bondsmithing is really dangerous, so Kelsier would be attracted to it, let's point that out.

#43 Copy

wanderinglightly

Rysn, our favorite Dawnshard holder is...

Brandon Sanderson

Is she your favorite Dawnshard holder?

wanderinglightly

...is a Caesarian shift +10 of a pesky traveller named Hoid. Meanwhile, Hoid is a Caesarian shift +16 of Rysn. Is this a RAFO or a happy little accident?

Brandon Sanderson

This is a happy accident. Happy accident, not planned. That's one of those ones where I'd like to be like, "See how smart I am, I've played a wordplay on you that—" no, I was not.

#44 Copy

Bruno Vale Fernandes

We know Herdazians and Horneaters are singer-human hybrids. My question is: Are all humans, besides the Shin, also hybrids with more diluted blood that gives them epicanthic folds?

Brandon Sanderson

No. The... oh, of each other you mean, or...? I thought you were meaning with... I would say that's not the way to look at it. I would say that yes, most people on Roshar probably share some common ancestors in some way, but you can say the same thing of most people from most regions on Earth and things like that. I don't think that's the right way to look at it. They just happen to be a large number of different human ethnicities that share some common features.

#46 Copy

Rexozord

Was Glys a deadeye before being Enlightened by Sja-anat?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, good question. You may have to wait for a while to get answers to some of those questions, sorry. And I'm not even promising that I'll answer them.

#48 Copy

TGJackass

The Truthwatchers and Bondsmiths are depicted separate from the other Orders in that neat little chart. Why is that? I get that the Bondsmiths are special, but why are the Truthwatchers beneath them, in the middle? And is there a reasoning behind how the other Orders are placed, beyond just what surge they share?

Brandon Sanderson

So, yes and originally I had a lot more with this chart that was going to be meaningful for the magic system and things like that. And it turns out this was way too complicated to work into the book. You can maybe see some of it in Way of Kings Prime. I can't remember how much of it's in there, but at the end of the day, when I was building it, I'm like, "I am... this is one of those times where I'm doing a little too much, getting too much into the weeds," so to speak. But you can, you will be able to... See, it's tricky because you're gonna be seeing a lot of Renarin version of Truthwatchers and less of other version of Truthwatchers. But let's say that Truthwatchers have some sort of abilities relating to Cognitive and Spiritual Realm set in a similar way to Bondsmiths, and because of that they were often kind of opposed but aligned, and the chart is a human construction trying to explain things—much as the same way that the Allomantic chart is—and because of that, they're responding to things that have happened, that are partially cultural partially, part of the magic and they built the charts, if that makes sense.

#50 Copy

Baldur

Is Jasnah Kholin autistic?

Brandon Sanderson

Jasnah, I have not deliberately put on the spectrum in my approach to her, but at the same time... there are some traits she might share. But, you know, it's one of these things when we're dealing with, we're dealing with personalities and ways that people see the world. For instance, let's talk about this: my son Dallin, my middle son, he is not autistic—at least he was not diagnosed autistic, when we took him—severe ADHD, and some other things, however we have put him in a school that specializes in helping people with autism and has been wonderful for him, because some of this the things that he does and the ways that he thinks are helped by the same sorts of systems. So, the fact that I would not personally diagnose Jasnah with autism does not necessarily go as far as you might think.

 

#51 Copy

Cheyenne Sedai

You told us more than a year ago that you wanted to save the mystery of the Order Dalinar's Plate was from until after ROW. What is it?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, the main reason I wanted to do that is I did not want to talk too much about armors. I did not want to talk about where armor came from. And I'm going to say Isaac is working very hard on the concept arts of all of these and canonizing all of them and we know which armor Dalinar's is, but I am not going to tell you right now, because I don't want to tie his hands, because what he's doing is he's finding the consistent types of ways they would look and categorizing all the armors into certain ones as we had done in the past for Shardblades, and we're doing some cool things. It's been really fun lately.

So, one of the things that was teased at the Dragonsteel Minicon is that we are going to be doing some minis soon, with Brotherwise, who are fantastic. And one of the things we wanted to have done before we could do minis was just have really solid concept art guidelines for characters and worldbuilding elements and things like that. Often, with the books, we'll just give artists a lot of leeway and freedom, and we still like doing that. But at the same time we do need to have more strong sort of "here is what Brandon sees these things looking like." Which is not how I've normally done things, right? Like, I like fan art. I don't like to be too strict and be like "oh, the fan art's wrong for this reason," or things like that. I like artists to be able to do their thing.

But as we move into doing merchandise, like these and minis and stuff like that, I acknowledge that I can't take that tactic anymore. And so one of the things we're doing is we're making sure we have canon versions of, "Here's what characters look like, here is what the armors look like, here is what these Orders look like, here is what listeners and singers look like," and things like that, so that we can be more aligned on all these things. It's been very fun; Isaac's been putting a ton of work into this and doing a really good job with it. But let's pass on that question until Isaac is able to reveal some of these things to people.

#52 Copy

halohunter51

Do you have a term for anyone within the cosmere that can use Investiture? And can you tell us what it is?

Brandon Sanderson

I have started dabbling with these sorts of things and I've started just calling them Invested, right? Like this person is Invested, and things like this. And I think that term is going to work, but I'm gonna see how it feels going forward.

#53 Copy

Argent

Mechanically speaking, how does steelsight work? The scientific definition of "metal" gets a little murky in the middle of the periodic table-

Brandon Sanderson

It does.

Argent

-and we see that powerful enough Allomancers can see more than just metals.

Brandon Sanderson

Yep.

Argent

Are Connection and perception significantly involved here?

Brandon Sanderson

To an extent, but the science of it also is. I feel like the stronger steelsight is getting, the more it is detecting things like electromagnetic bonds and even, you know, the strong and weak force and some of these sorts of things that is just in everything, right? And I do think that in strongest applications, Allomancy is going to be moving beyond metals and moving toward things like fundamental forces. So there you go.

#54 Copy

NeedsToShutUp

We know Roshar lacks plate tectonics, being basically crem on crem. Yet peakspren have features showing heat, indicating vulcanism is present. Are the Horneater Peaks fed by a magma pocket, or is it Lifelight feeding them?

Brandon Sanderson

Wait for the Horneater novella and maybe I'll get it in there!

#56 Copy

LightPhoenix

Would an Enlightened spren cause a Listener to adopt a different form than a normal spren? For example, if lifespren lead to Mateform, would an Enlightened lifespren lead to the same Mateform? What about other creatures that are linked to spren and have gemhearts?

Brandon Sanderson

That is RAFO. But it would be different. I suppose I can just answer it would be different because the way you phrased that question, I believe I can answer that way. But in what ways would be RAFO.

#58 Copy

Clerk_Antique

What did the singers do in between desolations? Did they have their own kingdoms? Did anyone try to create a combined nation of humans and singers?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! Book five might have a few answers for you.

#59 Copy

AyushStormblessed

If a Mistborn or Misting is Returned, do they retain their Allomantic powers? 

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

AyushStormblessed

Theoretically then, can Kelsier come back to Physical Realm as a Returned?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO. Double RAFO!

#60 Copy

Mr_Magatar

When Gavilar died, it took the Stormfather around five years before Dalinar started to get visions. Outside of those two, have there been any other that the Stormfather started to give visions to? If so, care to give a number?

Brandon Sanderson

Don't care to give a number, but there are others that were at least investigated.

#61 Copy

EagleTiger32

At one point a seon is described as speaking with an odd rhythm.

1. Would someone on Roshar recognize that rhythm, and

2. Could a seon reproduce the tones Navani discovers in Rhythm of War?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, they are speaking with an odd rhythm. This is... You are close but not quite there.

#62 Copy

EagleTiger32

Have we seen anyone (other than Hoid) use a magic system not featured in a published story?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends on whether you count... You have seen some effects and some Aether involved things in the books before, so the answer is yes—tentative yes.

#64 Copy

Kael_the_Adventurer

The Lost Metal announcement blurb mentions "offworlders" and factors "from the larger Cosmere"; are there any particular books or series that you would recommend be read or reread before reading The Lost Metal?

Brandon Sanderson

If I said what they would be it might be giving too many spoilers.

#65 Copy

SoarWay

In Wax & Wayne we see the Sovereign who saved the Southern Scadrians was Kelsier, but in modern day people confused him for the Lord Ruler. Is Kelsier responsible for this misdirection or is it just a natural misunderstanding?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

#66 Copy

-stormlightning-

What happens if you mix Stormlight with a different Light's inverse (like anti-Voidlight)? Would they repel each other because one is a natural Light and one is an anti-Light, or would would just behave like two different Lights? Theoretically, would there be a emulsifier for Light and anti-Light combos?

Brandon Sanderson

Right, we'll RAFO for now. It's a good question, but it's not the sort of mechanics I want to be canonizing in a livestream.

#67 Copy

edgwardoe

Physiologically speaking, does a gemheart have a purpose? Beyond the Investiture/spren-related functions. Do creatures with a gemheart also have a regular, meat-heart?

Brandon Sanderson

They do have a regular meat-heart.

The gemheart--the function is Roshar-related. It is Investiture and spren-related. That's why things have a gemheart. Resonating with the tunes of Roshar, that sort of stuff. So that is the physiological function of it. That's why they exist. So the answer is, "no, they don't have a physiological function beyond that," but that's like saying, "no, the meat-heart does not have a function beyond pumping blood through the body." I mean, that's why it's there.

#68 Copy

kvancleeff21

Another question refers to the long silvery chain found by Kaladin in the shops at Celebrant. Apparently it’s worth thousand broams. Is there anything significant to that in book 5.

Brandon Sanderson

No, it's not from a Rosharan magic system.

#70 Copy

MoriWillow

The terms kinetic and static Investiture were introduced in Rhythm of War, but not defined or explained.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

MoriWillow

What are kinetic and static Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question. So I've been talking about this for a while, so some of the arcanists out there know. Kinetic is a thing I'm defining that the Investiture is being actively expressed and used, and so it has certain effects. For instance, you're gonna see sand get charged by kinetic Investiture but not necessarily by static Investiture. Static Investiture being Investiture that is stuck in a sphere. If you just walk by with that sphere, particularly if it's in a bag or something, the white sand's not going to see anything. But if you are actively using it to do something, if you have created or are maintaining something, if you are flying or you are using one of the Surges, then we call that kinetic. And kinetic Investiture is going to show up much more easily to someone who can replicate the abilities of a Seeker, who can hear pulses. These are the things the spren notice when someone is using their powers. This is white sand. There are just many things in the cosmere that respond to Investiture being used in some way, and when it is not being used it is harder to hear, locate, or reference.

#72 Copy

VeryNiceName16

Why does mateform have breasts? It's not the form they use to raise kids, so is this some kind of human influence on the lifespren?

Brandon Sanderson

I'll RAFO that for now. It is something I have actually thought about and I might get into, I might not.

...

There are plenty of mammals who do not have breasts as a... Enlarged breasts is a secondary sexual characteristic, how about that? In humans it is generally considered by biologists to be a form of displaying readiness and desire to mate. So, not necessarily there for the babies, if that makes sense. And I think it is a similar thing with mateform.

#73 Copy

SoarWay

The Sleepless let Rysn carry a Dawnshard around and continue to live her life as relatively normal. Could we assume that someone like Hoid would be able to interact with her without noticing she holds a Dawnshard?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends. You could not necessarily assume that.

#76 Copy

LewsTherinTelescope

The fainlife from the Liar sample chapters is one of my favorite elements of the Cosmere so far. Has it spread significantly anywhere besides Yolen so far? I really want to see more of it.

Brandon Sanderson

It has spread off of Yolen in signficant ways. 

#77 Copy

TopicCharming2157

Living Shardblades are the physical manifestation of spren. If Moash had used Raboniel's anti-Stormlight charged dagger to stab a spren while in Shardblade form, would it kill the spren? (Like Kaladin forming a Syl shield to guard a stab)

Brandon Sanderson

Physical form of a spren is going to be more resilient to this.

#78 Copy

howtofall

We know that the effects of various magic systems are changed by their interactions with metals (Scadrial’s three obviously, as well as fabrials on Roshar). So my question is: when a piece of metal is Awakened, does the type of metal change the nature of the Awakened object in any meaningful way?

For example, If Nightblood had been made of iron or tin rather than steel...

Brandon Sanderson

It would most likely change what is happening with Nightblood to use different materials, and that includes different types of metal.

#79 Copy

NeedsToShutUp

What would happen if Hoid tried to burn the shard that came off Ishar's Honorblade?

Brandon Sanderson

If you were able to get a hold of that piece and burn it, it would act like burning... You would be burning a very pure form of a God Metal, and those have some very interesting effects. RAFO.

#80 Copy

Argent

Navani's lecture on fabrial science mentions that a tin cage can cause a painrial to numb pain⁠—presumably a pewter one can enhance it. The same epigraph also tells us that more advanced cages, with iron and steel, can change the fabrial's polarity. What does polarity mean in this context? What effects would iron and steel have on that pain-numbing fabrial?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! We'll get into it Evgeni. Well, I'll say I intend to get into it, whether I actually will have the chance. I was pushing it in that book with the amount of fabrial and scientific sort of stuff, and I want to be careful not to always be pushing that line. Because while some people love it, it gets very fiddly.

#81 Copy

-stormlightning-

Could you explain why Rlain, despite the fact that he's never held a form of Odium, could hear and feel the difference between Voidlight and anti-Voidlight while Navani couldn't?

Navani though, who wasn't a Surgebinder, could hear the difference between Stormlight and anti-Stormlight. I can't think of a reason for this other than different species, but I think that would be a concerning explanation.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, well we will RAFO it.

#84 Copy

waves_under_stars

What would happen if a kandra ate the body of Ati or Leras? What would happen if they were turned into Lifeless?

Brandon Sanderson

The bodies would be a little bit warped by what's happened to them. The Lifeless thing is more likely to produce an odd effect than the kandra. The kandra is likely not going to have any weird effect, or maybe some small weird effect. So I would say weird effects are plausible, maybe even likely.

#85 Copy

aaabbb

Is it possible to create a Soulstamp that would allow contained Investiture to think it was in its parent system? For example, if a seon like Shallan's in Rhythm of War was contained by a Soulstamped box.

Brandon Sanderson

This is going to be hard. I'm going to give you a no with the little asterisk of I mean, maybe you could figure something out, but that's going to be pretty hard. You're just trying to figure out a way to stamp a being that is of pure Investiture. Which, good for you to be trying to figure that out, but no, that's not the way to do it.

#89 Copy

Niter

Is Jason an ancestor of Jorgen? In fact, I imagine their appearances similiar.

Brandon Sanderson

I will RAFO that one. Good question to be asking. The relationship there is not something that I am planning to dig into in the Skyward main series, but I might eventually, so that's why I'm RAFOing it. So don't expect it in book four I'm afraid. You're not going to get much more Jason stuff in book four. It's more of a thing to tease out for those who are very interested in book three. Book four is moving back to the focus on the... yeah. I'll just leave it there.

#90 Copy

kvancleeff21

What was the fabrial used by Nale to completely revive Szeth at the end of Words of Radiance? That seems like an immensely powerful fabrial, and I don’t think it has been mentioned since.

Brandon Sanderson

During the last days of the heights of the Knights Radiant, they were figuring out how to replicate most Radiant abilities with fabrials. This is where... the Oathgates as a guide for that sort of thing. So you're just seeing a fabrial that can replicate what an Edgedancer does, or a Truthwatcher. There were fabrials created that could do this for all ten Surges. Okay, nine of the ten Surges. Bondsmithing is its own weird thing, as usual. So yes, it's a very valuable fabrial to have, and that is why you haven't seen much more of it because it is in the hands of the Skybreakers, and we aren't spending a lot of time with the Skybreakers. But yeah, it is a thing they have. And there are fabrials that can replicate the other eight as well. You've seen several of them in the books already.

#91 Copy

hajas96

Ishar, when fighting Dalinar, showed similar powers to Hemalurgy (stealing the Nahel Bond). Could an unchained Bondsmith steal other stuff from a person? Strength, Breaths, ability to use Allomancy, etc.

Brandon Sanderson

Among those are things that they could steal.

#92 Copy

Mattlink123

From what I understand, Preservation and Ruin worked together to create Scadrial because neither had the ability to create on their own. If that was the case, why did they feel the need to create a world from scratch in the first place? Was it not possible for Preservation and Ruin to Invest themselves on different pre-existing planets and not bother each other?

Brandon Sanderson

They didn't want to. They wanted to create. That is an impluse that some have, and in that case it is something those two both shared is this desire to create something. And so they did!

#93 Copy

bitchasstwink

Can more than two pure tones reach harmony? And, extending on that, does Harmony the Shard have a pure tone for itself, or is it a mix of Preservation and Ruin?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! Excellent question, sorry to dodge that one.

#95 Copy

MadnessLemon

What does Leshwi think of Moash in Rhythm of War? She seemed to encourage his actions and essentially brought him into Odium's forces in Oathbringer, and according to Venli she respects him, but it's hard to imagine she'd be cool with a lot of his behavior throughout Rhythm of War. Particularly his tormenting of Kaladin.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, but she doesn't know about any of that.

MadnessLemon

Have her thoughts on him changed as he's become closer to Odium and embraced the identity of Vyre, or does she regret picking him out altogether?

Brandon Sanderson

Not—no. Leshwi occupies an interesting space. Being closer to Odium is not a bad thing in her mind, right? She is reluctantly placed between things... she reluctantly has been put in a position she did not want to be in. She would not necessarily have approved of some of Moash's actions, but fighting as well as he did is something she legitimately respects. And the way he's been acting among the singers, nothing about that is a big warning flag to her.

#96 Copy

asmodeus

We now know that Glys and Tumi were Enlightened, and that has⁠—to some extent⁠—affected Renarin's Oaths and Surges. Could this Enlightenment have only happened one way? In the sense that is every Enlightened mistspren going to be displaying the same changes, or is there room for exploration here?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question and RAFO. I'm glad you're asking that, but I am going to RAFO it.

#97 Copy

Striker_EZ

What would the dynamic between Elhokar and Design have been like if Elhokar hadn’t been killed? I feel like Design is perfect for Hoid, but I’m not sure how it would go over with Elhokar.

Brandon Sanderson

She would've really liked Elhokar. I think they would have gotten along very well, and she would've been very good for him, and he would've been very good for her. Let's say that Design and Hoid are a different kind of pair, and they exacerbate certain features in the other that may not be the best for either of them. Not in any catastrophic way, but I imagine that she and Elhokar would've become both better people through their bond.

#98 Copy

Molesttron

We know that the conflicting nature of Preservation and Ruins' Intents within Harmony makes it difficult for Sazed to act in any meaningful way. Does the conflict between the two also protect Sazed, at least somewhat, from being molded to the Shardic Intent?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

#100 Copy

KandraAllomancer

Rosharans seem to love names containing words like "Shard" and "Dawn". Is "Dawnshard" a Roshar-specific word (like Shadesmar), and are Dawnshards named differently in other parts of the Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

It's more along the other way, that part of the reason they love the words [Dawn] and [Shard] is relating to these issues—relating to the existence of Dawnshards and Shards of Adonalsium and things like that.

#101 Copy

deadmatt666

With the mainstream success of animated series like Arcane, would ever reconsider anyone of your Cosmere IPs to be animated instead of live action?

Brandon Sanderson

I would consider it. The more popular animation becomes for the general public, the more likely I am to consider it. Now, if I am able to get some live-action adaptations, then the chances that I do animated go way up. But it's unfortunate; I wish it weren't the case, but you can go look at the numbers of Into the Spiderverse versus these other Spiderman films and see who went to them. I think Into the Spiderverse is amazing; it's probably my favorite Spiderman film. I think it is incredible. But the unfortunate and annoying truth is that many fewer people will go to it because it's animated.

You might legitimately say, "Well, don't you just want something to be awesome? Let's focus on making something awesome." And that's a pretty good argument. But I feel like I'm not in the realm right now where I want to just have one thing be cool and then leave pop-culture consciousness. If I'm going to get the whole Cosmere made, I need to hit big. Otherwise, we're going to get a couple of seasons and then be done. Because even good things on a lot of the premium cable streaming services right now get a couple of seasons, and then they're done and that is it. If I want to see everything get made, which I would like to see, I'm going to have to hit bigger than leading with animation can get me right now. That could change, that could absolutely change, but that's where my mindset is. 

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